Improved peat machine



D. WELLINGTON.

Peat Machine.`

No 61,965. Patented Feb.12,1867.

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Letters Patent No. 61,965, dated February 12, 1.867.

IMPROVBD FEAT MACHINE.

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TO ALL WHOM IT M AY GONGERN:

Be it known that I, DARIUS WELLINGTON, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvementin the Vlllianufacture of Peat Fuel; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany andform part of this specification, is a description of my invention,sufficient to enable those skilled inthe art to practise it.

In the manufacturev of peat, or the preparation fromvcrude peat of aportable and condensed fuel, free from water, great diiiiculty is foundin reducing the bog peat to a homogeneous consistency, and in'eectingbypressure the 'reduction of its bulk, the first on account ofi theadniixture of coarse undecomposed vegetable matter with the peat, andthe other from the intimate commingling of peut andava-ter, the peatgenerally being in so iiuid a condi tion, that in producing pressurevtoremove the water the peat and water escape from the press together.After much experience and observation, it is my belief that it is notpractical to wholly remove the water by direct pressure, or to removethe fibrous material therefrom, and that the best manner of preparing afuel from peat is to thoroughly intermix and reduce it to a consistencyin a mill, to then subject it 'to such pressure as it willbear withoutrunning, and to finally compress it into moulds, from which it may beremoved in suoli portable shape that it will, by exposure to sun andair, 'soon be brought into good condition for fuel. Itis to anarrangomentof mechanism for effecting this preparation of fuel from peatthat myinvention relates;` and the invention consists primarily incombining, with a mill containing rotary arms or knives for reducing thepeat to a homogeneous condition, and a screw for effecting pressure uponthe same, for feeding and pressing it into a mould placed beneath themill, a reciprocating follower, so arranged with respect to a mould-boxpit and the mill, that at each reciprocation of the follower the filledbox is removed from beneath the mill, and is replaced by on empty one,the shaft which drives lthe follower ,also driving the mill mechanism,and the connections being su'ch that the relativo motion of thepressure-screw and the follower may be varied to produce such greater orless degree of pressure upon therpeat during the time-a mould-box isbeneath the mill as the condition of the peat may require. v

' The drawing represents, at A and B respectively, a plan and a verticallongitudinal section of a machine embodying my invention. a denotes abed, having erected at one end of it a vertical cylinder, b, whichstands directly over a cell, e, made to receive a mould-box, d, the openormould spa-ce of which corresponds with the opening from the lower endof the cylinder.' A vertical shaft, e, (extending centrally into thecylinder, and rotating in suitable bearings,) carries at the upper partof the cylinder a series of radial knives or arms,f, and below theseA awide-flanged screw or germ-wheel, g, so that when the shaft is `rotated,(the millbeing filled with peat,) the rotary knives at the top divideand reduce to a consistency the crude peat at the top, which, as itdescends, is taken by the screw and fed down and pressed into the mouldbeneath it. Adjacent to thc mill cylinder is a pit, z', for receivingand containing empty moulds le, the bottom of this pit being in the sameplane with the bed-surface on which the mould vrests beneath the mill.Sliding on the bottom of this pit, and between guido-walls on the sideopposite to the mill, is a slide or follower, Z, which is connected toand driven by the crank m of a driving-shaft, n, through aconnecting-rod. o. The vertical driving-shaft 'n turns in abearing-plate,` p, at bottom, and in a bearing, g, at top,an l has apulley, i', which is connected by a baud, s, to a pulley, t, ou themill-shaft. When the follower Z is drawn back, its front `end comes inline with the` rear wall'of-the pit, and by gravity the series of mouldsdescend in the pit. As the follower then advances, it pushes the mouldin front of it against the charged mould under the cylinder b, drivingthe charged mould out, and bringing the empty one into its place forfilling. The follower next goes back, during which movement the rotationof the millshaft `fills the empty mould. As the follower reaches theside of the pit, another empty mouldrdescends, and so on, a filled mouldbeing removed and an 'empty one brought to its place at each forwardmovement of the follower. The shaft n has a cone or series of pulleys,1', of varied diameter, (as the mill-shaft may also have,) so that byshifting the `band from a small to a larger pulley on the shaft n, thenumber of revolutions of the millshaft to each revolution of thedriving-shaft, (and its 4attendant reciprocation of the follower 2,) maybe increased to increase the pressure upontho peat entering the mould,as the condition of the peat may require. This arrangement of tho partsrenders the machine very simple, easily operated, .and not liable tobecome deranged.

Under the cylinder I I make the bed for the mould, of slate, marble, orother stone, as I find that such material is not onlyr very enduring,but affords a surface not liable to splinter, or to warp from'moisture,and to cause the moulds to bind as they are moved into and from themould-cell. For the more ready discharge of the peat from the moulds, Iexpand or Hare the sides of each from the bottom, as seen at B, thisshape retaining Y the peat in the mould as the mould is removed by handto the place where the cakes are to he deposited, and

the peat readily dropping from the-mould when it is turned over. At thefront side of thebottom of the cylin der b isa sharp or cutting edge orblade, u, which, as the mould is forced from its cell, severs thefibrous portions of the peat in the mould from their connections withthe peat above.

I claim the combination ofthe cylinder d, and its reducing and pressingmechanism, the mould-cell c, and pit and the follower Z, when the wholeare constructed and arranged to operate together, substantially as shownand described.

I also claim so combining the driving-shaft n, by which the follower isdirectly operated, and the mill-shaft e, that the pressure upon the peatmay be increased or diminished, relatively toeaeh reciproca-tion ofthe'follower, substantially as set forth.

Also, forming the bed of the mould-cell of stone, as and for the purposeset forth.

Also, combining with the cylinder IJ the cuttingl edge u, operating asset forth.

DARIUS WELLINGTON.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS GoULn, S. B KIDDER.

